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I have found the facebook algorithms to be completely inaccurate in predicting my wants and needs. The products that get advertised to me are laughable. I fee

I have found the facebook algorithms to be completely inaccurate in predicting my wants and needs. The products that get advertised to me are laughable. I feel like they don't know me at all, in the least bit. they could have 10 times more information about me and it still wouldn't help. For all this talk about algos knowing us and how scary it is: it just doesn't hold water. at least for me. Just as an example: I once searched for a hoody on google. For weeks, they advertised a hoody with a disgusting piece of raw meat on it. I'm mostly vegan and don't eat much red meat at all. how in the world did the algo come to such a completely inaccurate conclusion? A human just skimming over my profile for 2 minutes would have been able to target ads much better than the incredibly inaccurate job of the algo. And, they have such a hard time understanding intent. I once repeatedly clicked on At&t ISP ads because I hate them so much (all that rent seeking behavior), and i'd like to waste their stupid ad dollars. the algo, then proceeds to give me more of those ads because it thinks i like it. Virtually nothing I buy is a result of online advertising. I find it, incredibly ineffective on me. I think the term "surveillance" as used with advertising is unnecessarily emotionally loaded and completely innacurate. If an FBI agent or an advertiser real person was actually "surveilling" my browsing habits and purchasing habits, I think they'd be able to come up with a much better product recommendation and would very quickly come to the conclusion that I'm not worth the ROI to be advertised to in the first place for 99.9999% of the products out there.

night-rider 4y ago
I’m repeating myself here incase you didn’t read my comment, but this is exactly what happens to me. Google has a decade’s worth of my browsing history but can’t make the basic assumption that I am male and serves me ADs for tampons. $hasCervix: falsey
- leto_ii 4y ago
thereisnospork 4y ago
I would posit that at least some of the problem is the lack of 'closing the loop' on the ad model. Even if Facebook does know everything about you, the ad buyers don't and instead bid naively using their best judgment. Whereas in an 'optimal' system Facebook should centrally[1] control who sees everything, dispensing the most valuable ad to any given user. In which scenario, because they control everything, they should be able to ML and optimize ads on a per person basis. [1]So that they can unambiguously determine ad end point value. Here they might even guarantee a sales per ad dollar spend figure - where they simply will not show the ad to anyone they deem less likely to buy the statistically profitable amount of product.
- throw8383833jj 4y ago
  there is something interesting about that. If all the smart ad buyers are avoiding me because they know the ROI is really low, that would explain why I only see the very dumbest ads: they're the only ones who don't calculate any kind of ROI whatsoever. If the ML algo has to show me an ad, by process of elimination it would have to show me those that only count page impressions or views.
cratermoon 4y ago
They don't have to predict your wants and needs, they just have to keep you engaged. As long as you refresh the site, comment, and post, you're providing your labor as free content generation.
saad_123 4y ago

night-rider 4y ago

I’m repeating myself here incase you didn’t read my comment, but this is exactly what happens to me. Google has a decade’s worth of my browsing history but can’t make the basic assumption that I am male and serves me ADs for tampons. $hasCervix: falsey

leto_ii 4y ago

thereisnospork 4y ago

I would posit that at least some of the problem is the lack of 'closing the loop' on the ad model. Even if Facebook does know everything about you, the ad buyers don't and instead bid naively using their best judgment. Whereas in an 'optimal' system Facebook should centrally[1] control who sees everything, dispensing the most valuable ad to any given user. In which scenario, because they control everything, they should be able to ML and optimize ads on a per person basis. [1]So that they can unambiguously determine ad end point value. Here they might even guarantee a sales per ad dollar spend figure - where they simply will not show the ad to anyone they deem less likely to buy the statistically profitable amount of product.

throw8383833jj 4y ago
there is something interesting about that. If all the smart ad buyers are avoiding me because they know the ROI is really low, that would explain why I only see the very dumbest ads: they're the only ones who don't calculate any kind of ROI whatsoever. If the ML algo has to show me an ad, by process of elimination it would have to show me those that only count page impressions or views.

cratermoon 4y ago

They don't have to predict your wants and needs, they just have to keep you engaged. As long as you refresh the site, comment, and post, you're providing your labor as free content generation.

saad_123 4y ago